The Yankees' unsung bullpen weapon has a “special” moment after clutch ALCS trip

NEW YORK – Earlier this summer, Yankees reliever Tim Hill hit a low point in his big league career.

The left-hander was designated for assignment and subsequently released by the White Sox in June.

Hill was posting the worst numbers of his career at this point, a 5.87 ERA over 27 appearances. He was beaten by the team that set the record for most losses in a single season in the modern MLB era.

It doesn't get much worse than that.

But Hill's story for the 2024 season and his big league future was still being written.

The same pitcher blossomed in pinstripes after the Yankees plucked him from the scrap heap. He has since emerged as a legitimate, high-leverage option on a team that is now six wins away from a World Series title. He leads the Yankees in innings pitched and posted the second-best ERA in their bullpen (2.05) over the last three games. plus months of the regular season.

He “didn’t make it,” as he put it, in Chicago earlier this year, but was able to learn from those experiences and turn the page.

“This year has obviously been crazy,” Hill said Tuesday night. “I feel like failing there prepared me for this. Overall, I think I did everything I needed to do this year: get there, fail, figure out why, and reflect on it. Then I came here and tried to turn the page, which I succeeded in.”

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Restore the glory

Hill hasn't received the recognition he deserves all along. He's never in the headlines. It's the nature of his role – a bridge to the big-name substitutes in the background – and his style. His use of firearms isn't exactly glamorous. He doesn't mow down hitters or fire up the radar gun, but instead throws exclusively to contact with hitters, rarely going to hitters or striking out.

However, on Tuesday, the sideways southpaw received a standing ovation. He retired all five batters he faced in a win over the Guardians, maintaining the lead in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.

Hill couldn't remember the last time he got a standing O, let alone the roar of a sellout crowd of Yankees fans in a postseason game as he left the mound in the seventh.

“That was pretty special, especially here at Yankee Stadium,” Hill said, allowing a grin to creep onto his face.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone trusted Hill to strike out the top four hitters in Cleveland's lineup with minimal margin for error, and it was business as usual. The left-hander hit the zone — 12 of his 18 throws were strikes — and he worked quickly, bouncing between throws.

He's not trying to calm himself down and moderate his heart rate as he fights for a big opportunity in the playoffs. His mindset is to attack and trust his stuff. Three of the four outs Hill recorded on balls in play were grounders. After joining the Yankees in June, through the end of the regular season only one other qualified pitcher had a higher groundball rate than Hill (69.9). After his debut with the Yankees, he had the eighth-lowest walk rate among qualified MLB pitchers (5.2 percent), and no one had a lower strikeout rate than Hill (10.4 percent) during that time.

That's why infielders love playing behind him.

“Don’t get me started, I love Tim Hill!” third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. said Tuesday night. “He’s one of my favorite pitchers. I know that every ball will be hit by me.”

The praise from Hill's teammates doesn't stop there. Talk to anyone in the Yankees clubhouse and they'll have a similar reaction to the lanky lefty.

“I love Tim, that’s my dog,” left fielder Alex Verdugo said. “He’s an idiot, man. He's a competitor when he's out there… and then there's nothing but positivity in the clubhouse. He also likes to talk a little here and there. He's just one of them, man. He’s hilarious.”

“He’s a real grinder,” added fellow reliever Tommy Kahnle. “This year hasn’t fazed him at all. He loves to take the ball and go, penetrate the zone and get outs. That's a great quality, especially here in New York. Don’t worry about the past, but about what is now.”

Other descriptions of Hill?

Funky.

Modest.

Consistent.

Coming from such a low point and turning it into a season that has the potential to be career-changing has Yankees reliever Tim Mayza adding “persistence” to that list.

Mayza knows what it's like to be on the chopping block. He had his worst season with the Blue Jays earlier this year and was also called up for assignment and released earlier this summer, ending up with the Yankees.

“He knows from experience how grim it can be when you get fired by a team without knowing what's next,” Mayza said, “his attitude and his ability to navigate tough times and whatever is thrown at him “To hang in there.” You can see it on the mound in how he's developed into this powerhouse option for the Yankees. I bet if you had asked him when the White Sox went downhill, do you think you would be playing in the DS with the Yankees? He probably wouldn't have believed you. It’s been such a roller coaster year for him and I’m so happy for him.”

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Max Goodman can be reached at [email protected].